


surrounds us & binds us

by soaringrachel



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Bonding, Feelings, Jedi Training, Multi, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 16:47:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8292937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soaringrachel/pseuds/soaringrachel
Summary: Finn brings BB-8 with him, and the sexy pilot--Dameron--and a confused but happy willingness to learn what Luke has to teach him, which is the same thing he has to teach Rey, it turns out. "How did you know to come?" Rey asks him, and Finn mirrors the same awkward shrug she gives when the answer to one of Luke's questions is "the Force." It's funny to see on his body and she laughs, hard enough that she ends up falling against him, feeling him laugh too.





	

Finn shows up on the twelfth day. Somehow, it isn't a surprise to Rey.

Luke reacts to this by tossing him a practice staff and looping him into the drill, which _is_ surprising until it isn't.

Finn brings BB-8 with him, and the sexy pilot--Dameron--and a confused but happy willingness to learn what Luke has to teach him, which is the same thing he has to teach Rey, it turns out. "How did you know to come?" Rey asks him, and Finn mirrors the same awkward shrug she gives when the answer to one of Luke's questions is "the Force." It's funny to see on his body and she laughs, hard enough that she ends up falling against him, feeling him laugh too.

"I'm not laughing at you," she says, "just at--"

Finn widens his eyes in a way that takes in the ancient moss growing through ancienter stone, the presence of Luke Skywalker handing down beardy wisdom, the ache of the Force they're both beginning to feel.

"Exactly," Rey says, and they keep laughing until BB-8 comes around the corner beeping like it's trying to join in.

 

They have their pick of rooms--there were a lot of Jedi here, once, and probably cooks and gardeners and so on too. Luke sleeps somewhere in the basement, Rey thinks. Poe chose a big room by the chapel that he claims must've been some super-badass Master's. Finn's room is off the dining hall where they eat Luke's shitty Outer Rim cooking three meals a day (Poe is a better cook but it's not worth cleaning the kitchen after him).

Rey picked a little attic room above the gymnasium. There's no glass in the window but she can see the ocean through it. She has to carry BB-8 up, though, which Poe and Finn laugh at her for doing. BB-8 just tries to look dignified, which it obviously can't do.

Poe finds her up there one morning while she's watching the sun rise over the sea.

"Didn't peg you for an early riser," Rey says.

"Military discipline," Poe replies, with that easy grin of his. "I was looking for BB-8?"

"Must be in Finn's room," Rey says. She thinks he'll go, but he comes up by her shoulder.

"Can I share the window?" he asks, so Rey moves over a little to let him in. The air is brisk and salty in the early morning, and Rey licks her lips absentmindedly, smiles at Poe. It's light enough to read by by the time Poe says "Finn's room?" and heads down the stairs, running a hand through his hair.

 

Of course, mostly they train. Her and Finn and Luke. Lectures, meditation, and a great deal of fighting, because they are after all training for war. Rey thinks she could fight Finn in her sleep by now--actually does it in her dreams most nights. Luke, too, ,except he's clearly holding back when he spars with them.

Finn begs Luke about once a day to let them practice lightsabers, and Rey is secretly, quietly relieved every time Luke says no. A lightsaber feels too real somehow; all this other training, even in the Force, is something she always could've used. A lightsaber makes her a Jedi.

They don't use the word much, she and Finn, when they wait for Luke in the chapel or clean the gymnasium before dinner, but it's always there--they are going to be Jedi!--sometimes with excitement, sometimes with awe, sometimes trepidation.

Finn called Luke "Master Luke" when he showed up (Poe called him "Mr. Skywallker"), which Rey hadn't even known she was supposed to do. Finn smiles when she tells him that.

"I'm going to tell that story one day when people call you Master Rey," he says. "Or is it also Master for women?"

Rey blushes. "Can you imagine?" she says. "People talking about _us_  the way they talk about--" Suddenly she isn't sure how to finish the sentence.

"It's insane," Finn says. "It's terrifying."

Rey nods. "Extremely."

She looks Finn in the eye and she's not sure if it's the Force but she can feel they're both thinking about Kylo Ren, and about the last time they each picked up a lightsaber.

"I wanna get good," Finn says, intensely.

Rey nods and squeezes his hand, and they go to dinner, and a few days later Luke has them start working on lightsaber form.

 

Three weeks in Rey still isn't sure what Poe is doing there.

She means that in the sense of why he stayed at all--between Rey and Luke they're fine for pilots--but also she's not really sure how he spends his time. Some days he goes out with BB-8 before breakfast and doesn't return until dark. Other days he's around, stocking the kitchen or tuning up BB-8, but nothing that could keep him really busy.

Some days, he attends their classes.

"We've reformed," Luke says, "but I only know of two force users who got married--my father and my sister, and neither was a Jedi."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi had a girlfriend," Poe says, from the back of the chapel.

Luke looks at him. "Do you have a source for that, Commander Dameron?"

Poe shrugs. "History?"

Luke looks like he's holding back a laugh behind a scowl. "I _knew_  Obi-Wan Kenobi," he says, "young man."

Poe shrugs again. "OK," he says, "but have you seen holos of him when he was young? _I'd_  hit that."

Luke looks at Poe for a long moment, searching. Then he turns his gaze back to Rey and Finn. "Look," he says, "be . . . cautious in your romantic entanglements." He shakes his head. "Lesson over."

 

Another time, Poe sits in the corner of the dining hall while Rey and Finn stare each other down. Luke's set them to what he calls "improvisational defense"--as far as Rey can tell it means kicking ass, but inventively. No weapons, but they're supposed to use whatever's at hand.

Finn has two inches and about fifty pounds on Rey, but Rey is damn good at using what's to hand, so they're evenly matched, trading the advantage back and forth. They've been going for nearly half an hour, circling to catch their breath, when Poe calls out to them.

"Sorry?" Rey says, breathing hard, and Poe repeats himself: "Can you teach me this?"

Rey and Finn look at each other.

"Not the Force part," Poe says. "I'm, uh, guessing there's a Force part?"

"There is," Finn confirms. "But I guess you can learn the principle."

Poe gives them both a grin. "Just thinking the next time I get captured I'd rather rescue myself, you know?"

Poe's okay at hand-to-hand, and he's creative, but two-against-one is hardly fair, especially with the force between Rey and Finn, and Poe's on his ass pretty fast, though he manages to bring Rey down with him. Rey laughs and gets an idea--"Switch teams!" she shouts, raising an eyebrow at Poe, and then she force-pulls the nearest utensil to her and runs after Finn with it.

Poe gets with the program fast and comes around the other way, leaving Finn cornered.

"Not fair," he protests, and Rey laughs. "That's kind of the point," she says, and then presses in, just as Finn calls "switch teams" and suddenly Poe's knee is in her back.

Luke finds them an hour later, sweaty and laughing.

"You look like you've been playing tag, not training," he says.

Rey feels the Force coursing strong through her as soon as she stops to breathe. She can tell Finn does too, and Luke must as well because all he says is "Clean up for dinner, please," and starts setting things in order.

Rey also starts feeling a host of scrapes and bruises once she's putting up tables instead of knocking them over, but she still feels good.

 

That night Rey can't sleep and she thinks of going over to the chapel. It's not something she does ordinarily but she wants to clear her mind somewhere other than her room.

The chapel is down a hall and around a corner from the gymnasium, so it's only when she's halfway there that she sees the light and hears Luke's voice.

"--tried to listen to you, I really did," he's saying. "No more taking children from their families. And the galaxy sends me not just orphans, but _these_  orphans."

There's a pause, or something Rey can't hear--she can't help creeping closer.

"The pilot has a crush on you," Luke says.

"Does he?" says another voice, dry and humorous, and suddenly Rey thinks she knows who Luke's talking to.

Luke groans, in the chapel, and the other, older voice laughs, and then Rey hears Luke standing up and hurries back to her bed, a little more and a little less frightened of her master.

 

The morning after next, Luke comes in late to breakfast and sits down between Finn and Poe, narrowly escaping a faceful of the cinnamon toast they're sharing.

"Two more weeks," he says, and gets up again.

"What?" Finn asks.

"We're leaving in two weeks," Luke says. "Back to--oh. I assume you know where the Resistance is, Commander Dameron?"  
"Yeah," Poe says, around a mouthful of toast.

"Why?" says Finn.

"Well, for one thing," Luke says, "I don't want my sister to send a battalion after Dameron here. And for another, I'm the Jedi Master and I said so."

"Oh," Finn says, "Okay."

After Luke's gone, though, Finn looks sad.

"I like it here," he says.

Rey nods. "I like it too."

Poe shrugs. "I've seen worse."

  
_Well, I hate it_ , BB-8 says, which makes them all laugh.

  
_Stop laughing at me!_ BB-8 says crossly, which makes them all laugh harder. Rey's face must be red, Finn's leaning his forehead into Poe's shoulder. Poe is looking fondly at all three of them--Finn, BB-8, and Rey.

  
_Don't be stupid_ , says BB-8. "Too late," Rey says, cheerfully.

 

"I only need Finn today," Luke tells them the next morning, so Rey finds out what Poe does all day when he's not watching their lessons.

"I like maps," Poe says as BB-8 projects a holo rendering of the island. There are some holes, but it's remarkably detailed.

"There's nothing like this in the archives," Rey says.

"No," Poe says, "I made it."

He shows Rey how to use the surveying equipment, hands steady and eyes focused. She can see why he likes it; it's a bit like piloting in reverse.

They fill in a good chunk of the north side--Poe and BB-8 do, Rey mostly knocks over the equipment--and BB-8 adds it to the map, projecting a little Rey and Poe right where they're standing.

 

Poe reaches out and takes Rey's hand; the little Poe in the projection does the same. The little Rey looks pleased, but serious; Rey touches her face to feel the expression. Poe grins. "Show-off," he says to BB-8, and the little Poe and Rey make faces at him; BB-8 adds a little Finn for good measaure. Rey giggles.

"All right," she says, "are you as fast on land as you are in a dogfight?" and takes off toward home at top speed, Poe running behind and protesting loudly.

She slows to let him catch up when it's clear she's won. They're both exhausted and they walk the rest of the way slowly, bumping into each other companionably. Halfway along the path her hand slides into his and she leaves it there, hot and sweaty as it is, until they reach home just in time for dinner.

 

That night, Finn sneaks into Rey's room and shows her what he and Luke worked on while he was gone.

It's a lightsaber, a new one, with a green blade and gleaming handle. Rey sighs, looking at it; it's beautiful.

"I built it," Finn says. "It's mine."

He's not smiling but she can see how happy he is. She can feel it, too, in the Force, but also in the smaller force between them. She isn't sure what to say--"I'm so proud of you," "I'm so happy for you," "I love you,"-- so she reaches out and takes his hand, the way Poe took hers earlier. His hand is warm and dry, and he grips her smaller one firmly.

"Thank you," is what she says, after a minute. "For coming, for bringing Poe and BB-8, for being here."

Finn smiles at her, now. "When we go back," he says, "we'll be Jedi."

Rey nods. She doesn't feel ready for that, for people staring at her or missions to go on or Leia Organa's kind, firm eyes.

She leans over and kisses him on the temple, quickly. "This Jedi needs her sleep," she says, but when he leaves she doesn't fall asleep for over an hour, and when she does wake up in the morning it feels like only a minute has passed.

 

Luke doesn't come to breakfast. Rey goes to find him--he's in the chapel again, with BB-8, who is chattering irritably as Luke fiddles with one of its attachments.

"Hello," Rey says. "I didn't know you two knew each other."

"It's not a big island," Luke says, smiling.

  
_He's a menace_ , beeps BB-8. "I'm helping you!" Luke protests.

Rey laughs and sits down next to them. "What're you doing?"

"Just making this work a little smoother," Luke says, showing her. It's a simple fix but a clever one. Rey settles down to watch him work.

"I was sixteen when I learned about the Force," Luke says, somewhat abruptly.

Rey says nothing.

"I used to wear these black clothes. . . ." Luke says. "I kissed Leia."

Rey stares at him. Luke shrugs one shoulder.

"Master Yoda used to play practical jokes," Luke goes on. "Obi-Wan, apparently, had a girlfriend."

Rey smiles.

"It's going to be all right," Luke says, and Rey realizes with a shock he's telling himself as much as her.

Rey isn't sure what to say, but at that moment the chapel doors open and Poe and Finn burst through, holding hands.

"There's some kind of--" Poe pants, "some kind of bat? In the kitchen?"

Luke raises his eyebrows.

"It's huge," Finn says. "Like--"

"Very huge," says Poe.

"Aren't you a Jedi," Luke says, so Rey and Finn have to go fight the bat, which is more than huge, honestly. Poe watches and shouts embarrassing comments about how they look holding their lightsabers, and it's exhausting work, and it isn't until hours later that Rey realizes she didn't thank Luke, for the morning's conversation or for any of this.

 

But then it's their last sunset on the island and she and Finn and Luke are on the hilltop watching and Luke is speaking to them. He's speaking about the Force, and speaking through the Force, and Rey can feel the grass and the sun and Finn listening beside her. Luke is talking quietly about the greatness of the Force and the place they have in that greatness, and Rey looks at Finn, trades small happy smiles with him, watches the sun fall below the sea.

The stars are out and one moment Luke is telling them to feel everything living around them and the next he's half down the hill and Rey _can_ feel everything living around her, especially Finn beside her. Rey reaches out to Finn with one hand and then her whole body and then his mouth is on hers.

Her feeling of being awash in the Force dissipates, but it's all right, she's awash in Finn now, a smaller greatness. His mouth is soft and hot against hers, his back strong under her palm. She's gone from aware of everything to aware of just--

It's Finn who stops them but it's Rey who says, "We should find Poe," who leads Finn by the hand to Poe's big fancy room with the big soft bed. Rey falls into the bed while Finn and Poe kiss, softer than Rey expected. Finn's hands are strong like around his lightsaber; Poe's eyes are steady like Finn is a star chart or one of his maps.

Rey breathes out, loud in the starlight, and Poe climbs into the bed, props himself on one arm to lean over her and kiss her, lips chapped and half smiling. Rey laughs and pushes him over, straddles him for a moment until Finn pulls her down between them. From there it's all feeling and motion--she thinks, at one point, Poe is about to speak, and she and Finn nearly bump heads trying to kiss him quiet. At the end, though, he grins, pleased, and says, "Do you think I've slept with more Jedi than anyone in history, now?"

The spell's broken--Finn catches Rey's eye and they tip Poe out of the bed.

"Ouch," Poe says, "Let me up, I still have to fly you home tomorrow."

"Rey could fly us," Finn says," and Poe says, "You just want me all to yourself in the passenger bunks." Finn says "mm," and lets Poe clamber on top of him before adding, "and she's a better pilot," and Poe growls at him, and at Rey for good measure.

"I'm trying to sleep," Rey says, which only makes him growl louder, but luckily Rey has slept through a great deal worse.

 

In the end, Luke flies them home, because he says he misses it, and they do get up to mischief in the passenger bunks, in between turns manning the co-pilot seat.

Rey thinks she would be a little scared, actually--she barely knows Poe! She can't lose Finn!--except that co-piloting for Luke is too scary to leave room for much else.

"I thought _you_  were a show-off," she says to Poe. "I thought _you_ were," he says, and there's a beat where Finn would've said "you're both terrible" if he weren't busy. Rey grins.

"You'll need quarters near ours," Finn is saying to Poe as Rey gathers her things to disembark. "Adjoining even. For important strategic reasons."

" _Not_  adjoining," Rey says. "You both snore."

"Not as bad as you," Finn and Poe say at almost the same time.

  
_All humans snore horribly_ , says BB-8, and "Who's snoring?" says Luke, "wake up, this is kind of important."

Rey puts a hand on Luke's shoulder, says quietly, "All right?"

"All right," Luke says, and then louder, to all three of them, "all right!" and he opens the hatch.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Rachel for helping me through my first fic in over a year!


End file.
